Boost or Buy Boosted?
 

Love my Z and I have a few mods, but it really isn't as fast as I'd like anymore and I want to graduate to forced induction. I would appreciate some advise and opinions alike from folks who've TT'd their Z or bought a TT Z. Should I keep my Z and TT it or sell it and buy one already TT? My current Z is a champ; I haven't had any trouble at all with it and I'm coming up on 81k miles. It is not my daily driver, either.

Buy boosted. At least u know how your car has been driven.

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It is always best to TT your own car. RT Tuning has a Fast Intentions stage 1 kit for sale that is slightly used for 1000 miles. 9K You will need some more mods to go with it. If you can find one that was done by a reputable shop with the best parts for the right price it is no doubt worth looking at.

It is almost always better to do it yourself than buy used thats been modified

You just don't know what someone else has done or how it was done and they sure as hell aren't gonna warranty it after you buy it

If YOU do it yourself, you pick the parts, you pick the shop, you put the plan together, its all under your control.

This is particularly true when it comes to boost and small things can lead to big problems. It rarely works out where you come out ahead instead of having to spend more to fix ****

obviously if you insist on buying used, you should demand as much documentation as possible and to talk to the shop that put it together and tuned it and make sure these people know what the **** they're doing

If the work was done by a reputable shop, it's hard to beat the price on someone else's build... Though I always wonder(worry?) why folks sink a bunch of time/cash into a build and then sell the car like 5 seconds after its finally finished. I love my TT Z so much you'd have to pry it from my cold, dead hands.

My suggestion:

Can you do the work yourself?
Then boost your Z - a lot of the investment is tied up in the labor costs and you will know the installation better than anyone.

Would you farm out a boosted build?
Buy a car that was built by a reputable shop and has documentation, and take some of that savings and have a reputable shop go through the install and tune with a fine toothed comb to make sure everything is in good shape.

:iagree: You have two good options as pointed out by Jay

Personally I would never buy someone else's project. Its going to be a mystery box and who knows what was done and how well it was actually done. Boosting your current car you will know exactly what was done and would know what parts were done to "that's good enough"; where as in the other situation you have no idea what good enough was for the prior owner.

Unless your current car has some issues AND you can get a good deal on the other car (enough to deal with the problems that are sure to pop up) it's generally a bad idea to buy another car.

We have seen a several failures in this department lately. This is especially a big problem if you try to go over 600hp. If you want that, take it to a qualified shop who has been recommended on here.

There are a number of times in life you can not afford to be cheap. Boosting a car is one. There are a number of supporting mods needed to do it right & reliably.
I would avoid buying a boosted car unless I knew the history / owner of said car & really knew what I was getting into. The last thing you want to do is blow a lot of $$$$$ on someone's nightmare as it will smoke any savings you had & then some to make it right.

buy a GT-R

Fail. Totally irrelevant to what OP is asking.

OP, IMO and as others have stated, I would want to do the build myself, as you will know what has/has not been done and build to your liking.

There is nothing wrong with buying a Z that’s been FI, but like others have stated, I would ask for documentation.

No thanks, not my thang.... Besides, I can kick the crap out of those things. They need major money to be spent to keep up with me.

I'm curious about what people feel is the best route as well. I was wondering about the following (not trying to hijack the thread but to add to this)

- Would you guys consider buying a boosted Z if you could take the car to a reputable shop to find out what would need to be done/best to be replaced/weak points etc vs the huge costs - in particular the labor costs associated with boosting your car?

I hear that on average if you look to boost your Z and you pay a shop to do it - you're looking at anywhere between $15-20k - if i'm wrong - please let me know. If that is the case - since you can't get your money back on most mods as well as seeing some boosted Zs going for a little more than a regular Z - why not?

For instance there is a YT vlogger that came across this which honestly would be hard to pass on:
https://youtu.be/sGk3RAxwrCE

i wouldn't touch a youtube car with a ten foot pole

the real issue is:

are you looking to save money (up front) or do it right and not worry?

Again, when YOU pick the parts and YOU pick the shop and YOU work with the tuner, YOU know what if any problems may arise and YOU pick the solutions

There are very few people who will properly document their build sufficiently to allay those concerns

The ONLY way you should do it is you KNOW the shop that did and they're willing to vouch for it by putting their money where their mouth is and putting some guarantees in on the work. MAYBE this would work if the car in question were a shop car built for a show or event and they no longer needed it, so they're going to let it go to recoup part of their investment

i mean, if Fast Intentions and Specialty Z built a turbo car to show off at SEMA or ZDays and decided to sell it, i'd feel pretty good about buying it (Esp if you're within driving distance of them and they can walk you through it)

but some no-name shop you've never been to and can't come back and visit? hell naw

You don't know squat about that build. I watched the video. A car lot has it and they are not where you would want to buy such a car. Looked like a very very basic AAM kit. That is not what you want. It depends on how many mods you already have while pricing out a TT kit. No mods that you can use at all, you are looking at around 25k to TT a Z with a quality TT kit and using a quality shop. Lots of junk builds come out of Florida. They were done piss poor from the get go. If a car was on here and everything was posted about the build and it was high quality. Folks will fight over it and you are not going to get it cheap. Cheap low quality TT builds are a dime a dozen done by no-name shops.

too many folks building their car with the goal of being able to say they got a tt Z on youtube/instagram, shops included

not enough folks to it right, able to start and run reliably

Yeap, it is running rampet here lately. Motors are blowing left and right it seems like.

Appreciate the responses. Like the OP I have always wondered if it made sense to put a lot of money toward a TT setup - reliable TT setup or to buy a boosted car already. The other option of course was to consider just going with another platform. In the end while I would love a supercharger or TT setup, I see myself going FBO and adding a tune.

But to also look to see what supporting mods crossover as well to add those before fully ruling out going TT or having a supercharger added.

Full bolt on's do you no good if you are going boosted in the future. The only thing you could use again is an oil cooler or a diff upgrade (OS Giken or Wavetrac). Save your money if you are going the turbo route.

+1 for this advice.

-Jlarson, who after FBO will be removing the majority of them for a turbo.

I feel like the easy button here is to go with a BP kit (or Topz SC kit) and only build towards 450-500whp. Forget about boost control, flex fuel, 650+whp, etc. Those kits are not super laborious to install and tuning for a basic 500whp pump gas setup is also pretty quick and easy these days. This type of setup can be had for about $10k + installation labor and makes for a very fun street car (I have a very similar build, just TT).

Going to echo the other sentiments here. The only way I'd buy boosted is if you know it's been done by a reputable shop, is sorted, hasn't been a "test bed", hasn't been pushed to the edge, etc.

Personally, I'd only tackle a turbo project if I knew I had the time and money to do it right. So many people start these turbo projects (not just the Z, but all other builds) and then they just grenade.

The points boil down to: if doing it yourself, do you have the skills and money? If having a shop do it, do you have the extra money and patience? If buying someone else's car already boosted, do you know the history and do you have the skills and/or money and/or patience to make sure it stays running right? Kinda depends on you OP!

I appreciate everyone's input. Of course, if I bought a TTZ I would take it to someone to make sure it was done right. The one rj has for sale on this forum seems very legit, and I can afford it... after selling mine of course. Overall that would be the cheaper and easier option... to buy one already boosted.

http://www.the370z.com/cars-sale-pri...70z-nismo.html

I'll admit, I don't know enough right now to start my own build. When it comes down to it, I don't have the skills or tools needed to do any of the labor myself, which is why I'm considering a turnkey solution. I want lots more power with the least amount of effort (call me lazy), but it sounds like there's plenty of risk involved with inheriting someone else's build.

I’m saving my pennies for a boost myself and also have no tools, time or ambition for a self install so I know exactly how you feel.

I’ve decided that Top Gunz air to air SUPERCHARGER system is perfect for what I need. I’d love a twin turbo, but it’s totally overkill for a DD. Not hating, Spooler!

He just came out with an upgraded system (duel intakes and many other upgrades) that I’m anxiously awaiting Dyno numbers on. Next Thursday is the day.

All in price with kit, injectors, e85 fuel return, clutch, tune, installed (and some miscellaneous stuff I forget off the top of my head) was just south of $12,000.

Should put the WHP in the 550 to 600 range at 9lbs of boost. More than enough for me as a grocery getter.

The search function or a Google search is your friend. You have all the time in the world to learn.

You won't make 550-600 on 9psi. But, those numbers are easily achieved.

he asked about twin turbos

gtr has twin turbos

both are nissans

as relevant as it gets on this site

You're logic makes it seem as if you were dropped on your head as a child.
Buying a 20-35k car is nothing like buying a 50-150k car.

Don't breed. We have enough stupid in this world.

If you READ the original post, the OP clearly states he loves his Z and asked about twin turbo's for his Z. Nowhere does he even hint at the option of buying a GT-R.

Once again, your response was totally irrelevant.

I also included the original post for your reference below:

Listen to this man. He knows what he's talking about, esp. the latter part.

Just off the dyno. 9lb gets you 527 WHP on pump gas. Projects to be over 600 WHP on Corn.

I’m sold!